Holly Cupala's Blog, page 12

YA Bloggers Want...Real Issues, Fun Factor: The Undercover Book Lover

I'm very happy to put the spotlight on Reggie of The Undercover Book Lover today, a passionate blogger who has some definite ideas of what she wants to see on her YA shelf.

I met Reggie through the blogosphere and the blog tour. Not only did she have really nice things to say about TMAS, she auctioned off a signed copy to help raise $800(!) for The Pakistan Flood Relief Fund. What a selfless and impressive girl.

Welcome to the blog, Reggie!

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YA fiction is about more than just vampires.

With all the buzz about Twilight, vampires, and paranormal in general, many have put YA in the generic box of shallow nothingness...well, that's what I've been hearing. Every time I mention that I read and blog about YA fiction, I've seen more degrading stares than I care to admit. Lots of people that I've met have told me "You should read more meaningful books" or "Don't waste your time on useless crap" or "You should read about the real world". And no matter how hard I try, they just seem dead set on diminishing the possibility that YA just might be a great genre; full of real issues as well as having a fun-factor to it.

The reason why I love YA fiction in general, is because YA novels are written in such a way that you can't help but relate to them. Some paranormal books, like Paranormalcy, Firelight, or Nightshade aren't just books about the paranormal, they touch on real-life issues today such as making decisions, familial values, etc. And books like Tell Me A Secret, Crank, and Burned touch on controversial topics like teen-pregnancy and drugs. Some people look down and think of YA as shallow and useless, but I think that YA isn't generic and that it shouldn't be branded so easily. Don't knock it until you try it.

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Thank you, Reggie!

Readers, do you ever catch any flack about reading YA? Do you think YA isn't taken as seriously as other genres, or do you think it's gaining momentum and respect? What about contemporary versus paranormal/fantasy/sci-fi/genre fiction? Do you think one is respected any more than the other? Comment for a chance to win this week's book prizes, plus a chance to win the big prize! (US addresses only, sorry!)

Circle of Secrets: tweet chat tonight at 5PST/8EST!

Join us tonight for a completely epic, secret event: the official Circle of Secrets tweet chat!!!

(What on earth is that, you're wondering?)

When Jenn Hubbard (THE SECRET YEAR), C.J. Omololu (DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS) and I realized we all had secret books debuting in 2010, we formed this underground authors group with secret meetings and secret activities and secret conversations...and now we're having our very first public event, tonight on Twitter!

Our hash tag...


#YAsecrets


Yes!

Come chat with us about writing secrets, book secrets, our secrets, your secrets...all kinds of secrets. And maybe even some secret surprises along the way.

Oh, and you can follow the Circle of Secrets here.

Hope to see you!

YA Bloggers Want...Well-rounded EVERYTHING: Harmony B

[Quick note: tomorrow is the last day to enter to win a signed copy of Tell Me a Secret at WhoRuBlog! Hop to it, and hope you win!] *****
I'm very pleased to welcome Harmony from Harmony Book Reviews today (emerging from her MG-in-a-week challenge...which I think is awfully impressive!) to tell us what she'd like to see on the YA shelf.

I had the great fun of meeting Harmony in person when I went to ALA in Washington DC, and she is just the nicest person and a great advocate of books.

Note Harmony's new blog location here or follow her on twitter.

Welcome, Harmony!

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One thing I think that's missing in YA is well-rounded books. What I mean by that is a book where it's not just the main character and the main plot that's relateable and developed but EVERYTHING. I love it when minor characters and subplots are just as developed and realistic as the main plot, without taking over.

My 3 Fave YA's:
Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnert
Willow by Julia Hoban
Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken

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Thank you, Harmony!

Readers, what do you think makes a well-rounded book? Who are some of your favorite, well-developed secondary characters in YA? What would you like to see more of? Comment for a chance to win this week's book prizes, plus a chance to win the big prize! (US addresses only, sorry!)

This What YA Bloggers Want series is in honor of YALSA's Teen Read Week and National Book Month (even though we've already spilled over into November because of an outpouring of blogger amazingness...ah well, more prizes)!

Order a Signed Copy of Tell Me a Secret

What would we do without amazing indie bookstores? The ones in Seattle have been stupendous! They passionately connect readers with just the right books while cheering for us local authors. Indies, I love you!

Readers, have you been hoping for a signed copy of Tell Me a Secret? Here are four bookstores where I have recently signed TMAS, Give them a call, and I'm pretty sure they can ship one to you!


Mockingbird Books
7220 Woodlawn Ave NE
Seattle, WA 98115
email: info@mockingbirdbooksgl.com
phone: 206.518.5886
www.mockingbirdbooksgl.com


Parkplace Books
348 Parkplace Center
Kirkland, WA 98033
email: parkplacebooks@integra.net
phone: 425.828.6546
www.parkplacebookskirkland.com


Third Place Books Lake Forest Park
17171 Bothell Way NE
Lake Forest Park, WA 98155
email: comments@thirdplacebooks.com
phone: 206.366.3333
www.thirdplacebooks.com


Third Place Books Ravenna
6504 20th Ave. NE
Seattle, WA 98115
email: info@ravennathirdplace.com
phone: 206.525.2347
www.ravennathirdplace.com

Story Secrets: FREEFALL by Anna Levine

Today I'm welcoming Anna Levine, author of FREEFALL, to Story Secrets to share some of the secrets of her second YA novel. Her first, RUNNING ON EGGS, was a NYPL Best Book, and FREEFALL was chosen as a Sydney Taylor Honor book.


I found FREEFALL fascinating, as an in-depth look at a completely different way of life than mine as well as a portrait of a strong girl who faces her fears with wit and courage.


Welcome, Anna!


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Freefall (Greenwillow/HarperCollins) is about an eighteen-year old girl, Abigail Jacobs, who has reached the age when all Israelis are drafted into the military. Aggie decides she wants to be a combat soldier. She's under weight, but that doesn't hold her back. She gains the weight and faces the grueling physical, emotional and mental challenges of pre-army training. Her family, her friends and her then boyfriend think she's out of her mind. She proves them wrong.

Freefall is my third book set in Israel. All my stories feature strong female protagonists who are told that they can't, no way, impossible. Then they set out to prove everyone wrong.

In my first novel, Running On Eggs (Front Street/Cricket books, 2000), two girls on a track team form a friendship. What is unique about the story is that one girl is Israeli the other Palestinian. Despite society and family pressures to keep them apart, these girls find a common language in their love of running. My second book, a picture book, is set at an archaeological dig. Jodie, who is only eight-years-old, knows she wants to be an archaeologist. Everyone tells her she's too small, too young, too little to know what she wants. She goes on a dig with her dad. When she hears that someone small is needed to be lowered into a narrow cave opening, Jodie steps forward and despite her fear follows her dream and discovers a piece of history (Jodie's Hanukkah Dig, Karben Books, 2008).

I came to Israel on my own when I was eighteen. It was right before the First Lebanon war. I know what it is to feel alone, frightened and forced to find the strength within yourself to push forward. Running to bomb shelters, hitching rides across the country (now the bus system is more efficient) to visit my sister, giving aerobics lessons in a bomb shelter in Jerusalem while wearing a gas mask (at the time when Saddam Hussein was firing Scud missiles into Israel) are just a few of my experiences living here. For Freefall, I collected a bit from all of these moments and let my character Aggie cope with them. In some cases, she proves to be a lot braver than me. And fortunately my mother didn't know what I was doing either!

My next novel, now with my editor, looks at another aspect of Israel that has always aroused my curiosity: religion. In this next novel a religiously observant girl from Jerusalem finds herself drawn towards the theater. She hooks up with a drama troupe despite her parent's disapproval and while realizing the risks she faces if her friends and community discover what she's doing and the people with whom she's involved. She uncovers a whole new world outside of her own, experiences the temptations of secular society, tastes love for the first time and finds a sense of self-awareness and inner strength which allows her to make her own decisions.

Thanks for hosting me, Holly!

writing secrets, tmas secrets, and nice bloggers!

First of all, thanks to very sweet bloggers Gabrielle Carolina of The Mod Podge Bookshelf and budding author/blogger Suzy Turner for awarding me a blog award! I really appreciate all of your support of me and the blog and am sending a big bloggy hug in gratitude.


Author friend Molly Blaisdell is hosting the Fifth Annual Golden Coffee Cup all month over at her blog, and she invited me over today to offer a few secret writing tips to help you along in your journey. Get some cherry caramels and savor the victory. Here's my LLAP high five for you:


Last but not least, wonderful debut YA author Shari Maurer (Change of Heart) invited me to her blog today to chat about Tell Me a Secret (and other secrets, of course...many of them involving dessert). I had the pleasure of meeting Shari at the Class of 2K10 event at BEA, and she is just lovely. Thank you, Shari!

YA Bloggers Want...More Prizes!

Thanks to everyone who has come along for the What YA Bloggers Want series! I originally began WYABW to celebrate YALSA's Teen Read Week and National Book Month...except I got so many amazing entries that I decided to continue it into November.

Know what that means?!? More prizes!

This week, two winners get to choose books from my prize pile (see video for full lineup)...

Lauren M and Truth Be Told!

Winners, please contact me here with your first, second, and third choice for a book prize and include your info [NOTE: Heist Society, Lips Touch, and I Am Number Four are no longer available]. First come, first served, and I'll hold prizes for two weeks. Here's my prize video, and keep commenting for more, everyone!

YA Bloggers Want...Originality! Dystopian! The Neverending Shelf

Welcome back to another installment of the astonishingly popular chronicles of What YA Bloggers Want. Today I am thrilled to welcome Kate from The Neverending Shelf! Kate was a a very early fan of TELL ME A SECRET through Other Shelf Tours, and I am grateful for her kind words about the book. It's an honor to turn the blog over to her to chat about...dystopian, of course!

Welcome, Kate!

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What YA bloggers want? More Dystopian novels!
Why? Because each one usually offers something completely different. For me, there is nothing like reading a dystopian novel. I love reading about a society that has been destroyed/altered and what the outcome is like. They transport me into a another society... time period that I cannot experience currently. It is the ultimate escape.

Something else I want on the YA shelf is more originality. I love, love authors that think outside the box. As a reader, I crave those novels that offer something that I have not seen before. Whether it is a twist on a classic tale or a new original tale, I just need something that will make me believe that this novel is offering something special. Something that I cannot find anywhere else.

Want to get to know me better as a reader? Here are a few of my all-time favorite YA novels:

The Looking Glass Wars (Looking Glass Wars, #1) by Frank Beddor
Blue Bloods (Blue Bloods, #1) by Melissa de la Cruz
Uglies (Uglies, #1) by Scott Westerfeld
Skin Hunger (A Resurrection of Magic, #1) by Kathleen Duey
*****Thank you for stopping by, Kate!
Readers, are you mad about dystopian? Do you think it will be fly-by-night, or do you think it's here to stay as a major force in YA lit? Do you think the series factor has anything to do with their popularity? And I'd be especially curious to know if anyone has written about about modern dystopians for any kind of school writing assignment. Tell us!
Plus we're stilling giving away book prizes (US). Leave a comment for a chance to win one of these delicious YA books:

YA Outside the Lines

I've been keeping a secret, but it's out in the open now: I joined a most amazing YA author blog, YA Outside the Lines!


The tagline is "Authors of young adult fiction pushing the boundaries and writing from the heart" and includes this phenomenal lineup of contributors:

Danielle Joseph

Jennifer Echols

R.A. Nelson

Jan Blazanin

Holly Cupala

Cheryl Renee Herbsman

Lauren Bjorkman

Rosemary Clement-Moore

Wendy Delsol

Tara Kelly

Stephanie Kuehnert

Barbara Caridad Ferrer

Jenny O'Connell

Lauren Strasnick

April Henry

Sarah_Porter

As a matter of fact, I'm blogging over there today about the secrets behind the Tell Me a Secret and Don't Breathe a Word titles...come on over and let us know what you think!

(Even better, follow us for more great blogs, events, chances to win prizes, and more!) See you there!

YA Bloggers Want...No more instant love! Reading Angel

Today I'm welcoming Angela from the beautiful Reading Angel blog to talk about what she'd like to see on the YA shelf.

I met Angela when she started dropping by the blog to chat about story secrets and YA reads (plus she gave five butterflies to TMAS!), so I'm very excited to get to spotlight her as she tells us about the meaningful relationships she'd like to see in YA lit.

Welcome, Angela!

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What do I, as a YA reader, like to see in YA?

The number one thing that reaches me is a character that I can connect to in some way. Whether it's the life they are leading, the friends they have, or their attitude, the characters have to speak to me in some way for me to really enjoy the book.

As for the niche, I like so many different things! Contemporary, paranormal, horror, action, I love them all. As I stated above, the thing that really matters to me is that character connection, and the story needs to keep me entertained.

Something I'm tired of seeing in YA books? I'm sick to death of characters who "fall in love" within hours of meeting each other. I need to see a relationship grow and blossom into love. The trend of instant devotion and love is really starting to grate on my nerves.

Thanks for having me Holly!

My top 5 favorite YA reads of 2010?

Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa
Shadow Hills by Anastasia Hopcus
Tell Me a Secret by Holly Cupala
Crank by Ellen Hopkins
Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder


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Thanks, Angela! (And by the way, this What YA Bloggers Want series is in honor of YALSA's Teen Read Week and National Book Month!).


Readers, what makes a YA relationship believable to you? Do you like to see the sparks fly, or kinships develop, or friendships that turn into surprise romance? (Or hey, all of the above...?)

Comment for a chance to win yummy book prizes! There are lots up for grabs, plus a big book drop finale. (US residences only...sorry!)